Fliar has been to most amans and is one of the long time aman regulars here. a year ago >
as they said, they were at beijing when it opened. (opened late september 2008.) they were also one of quite a few aman regulars here who were at dayan when it soft opened.
clearly venice (owners live up stairs) and summer palace (summer palace) are unique from those perspectives. many looked forward to staying at summer palace. i was interested in venice property when residents were just renting rooms after a prior lease ended.
amans overall vary quite dramatically based on when, GM, staff, etc.
tokyo -
5khours,
NYBanker (business), others very positive.
MacMyDay checked out of MO solely because of aman's hard product, ignoring soft/F&B.
5khours was there opening night, and their experience was not matched by another here who was there at same time.
beijing >
sept 2012
Groombridge >
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...l#post19988229
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...l#post19403878
GM christine hodder was not onsite during stay
2011 >
2008
Amanjunkie http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...l#post10268654
tokyo >
ups and downs etc came up here re some amans long before 2014.
in tokyo, when peninsula has slipped, FS still lacks facilities, SL seems to be cutting some costs, and MO is reportedly showing some age in some of the rooms, it seems the market is not what it once was. regulars seem to continue to get great treatment at hyatt and perhaps okura too.
presumably lots of poaching by newer hotels in beijing and tokyo. hard to believe aman beijing has been open 9 years now. aman tokyo got the concierge from peninsula that was well regarded here.
seems like MO is not friendly to business travelers, and some platinum FHR. hope that is not the case elsewhere, including amans.